Reliving History

Forty-two years ago this month, I started my career as assistant professor and marketing specialist of horticulture at Michigan State University (MSU). John Carew, the chairperson of the horticulture department, gave me my job description. He said, "Create or discover new knowledge and disseminate it."

It sounded easy enough, but I had yet to learn all the stages that were involved in achieving that goal. The major job at hand was that the industry was very small. The total floriculture industry in Michigan was about $8 million in value. About 80 percent of that value was in the hands of 20 percent of the growers.

At the time that I started, cut flowers were the largest part of the industry, followed by potted plants. Bedding plants made up a very small part of the business. The traditional flower growers used clay pots and would never have considered growing in flats made of wood. Our biggest problem was that the field growers just dug muck soil from their fields and put it in flats.

The results were poor at best. The muck soils had a high pH, high phosphorus levels and produced iron-deficient plants that were not saleable. The soils contained pythium, phytophthora and rhizoctonia. Under moist conditions, these root rot organisms will destroy the plants. So naturally, growing plants this way didn’t work, growers lost a great deal of money and sales were poor.

Problem number one was to teach growers how to produce their product in a way that would result in a saleable plant and do it at a profit.

Over the years, there have been many innovations – new varieties, inexpensive plastic greenhouses, plastic flats and hanging baskets, seller’s mixes, production procedures for each plant, learning to understand the effects of light and temperature and so on. Once this information was available, we were able to develop a system that created a plant factory that could result in having 95 to 98 percent of the product saleable.

I had to be able to identify the limiting factors and then get my colleagues and graduate students to use the scientific method to prove that the information we developed could be taught to growers in the field successfully.

Once we had the information, we worked with several growers to test the results in the field. We classified growers into five groups: early innovators, late innovators, early followers, late followers and the never followers. I found that it took as much time and effort to implement new technology as it did to discover it!

In 1969, we founded a trade association, Bedding Plants, Inc. (BPI), as a result of two years of conferences held at MSU. One of the association’s first efforts was to promote our product. We developed a campaign around the slogan "Plant – Don’t Pollute." We had bumper stickers, pins and billboards. This was an attempt to be positive about our industry and to promote all the positive attributes that the plants we grew had for consumers.

The goal of this nonprofit trade association was to create and disseminate knowledge about growing and marketing bedding plants. It started with fewer than 100 members and a budget of $25,000 a year. In 20 years, it had over 3,500 members and an annual budget of $1 million.

The growers worked together to invest in research and teach others how to grow plants profitably, market their products and adopt new technologies. They shared their innovations and technology with one another.

The secrets of the past were no longer secrets. They were developed into production technologies that were available to everyone. Read the textbooks and grower books about floriculture and greenhouse vegetable production before 1960 and you will see how little specific information had been available before.

My reason for sharing this story is that if you don’t know the history of our industry, you will be doomed to repeat it.

Retro Science

Be aware of retroscience. Some of the methods that are now being proposed by growers and companies were researched in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s and abandoned because they were too labor intensive, time consuming, not reproducible, not able to be used in large-scale production and, therefore, not profitable.

If you want to be a certified grower, you should go to a source that has developed its requirements based on science and not on public relations and marketing schemes. The American Society For Horticultural Science offers a very comprehensive program to become a Certified Horticulturist. With this background of horticultural knowledge, you can then decide if you wish to use the "Best Practices Method," the "Organic Method," the "Clean Energy Approach" or a combination of all of these. This is the basis for a core of knowledge that will help you understand how plants grow and how people can benefit from and enjoy them.

Many people have the feeling that they don’t need to have a formal education in horticulture. I’ve heard all the excuses for why people don’t obtain the basic education they need to succeed. They don’t have the time. They don’t have the money. They don’t need formal training. They have a green thumb and that’s all they need. They are busy doing it so they will learn by experience – and a thousand other reasons. The old joke is, "A month ago I didn’t know how to spell horticulturist and now I are one."

I had a medical doctor stop by when I was working on my flowers in the front yard. He said, "You really have a great yard and garden. I have about 15 minutes. Can you tell me how you do it?"

I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Sure, but in exchange I’ve always wanted to be a brain surgeon. I have 15 minutes. Will you tell me how you do it?" He just smiled and went on his way. The "Know Nothing" approach to horticulture will be the downfall of your business and your way of life.

Consumer Response

It is amazing how consumer attitudes will change in one year. People have to make critical decisions now. The cost of basic foods has increased dramatically. Bread costs $2.89 or more a loaf, milk over $3.00 for a half gallon. Go to your local grocery store and watch people look at products, take them off the shelves, see the prices and put them back. More than half of the world’s population goes to bed hungry every night. We could see a similar problem in the United States.

Home vegetable gardens will become important again. People who didn’t have time to do it themselves may now find that they have a lot of time to help reduce their food costs.In the U.S., we have taken corn from a food product and diverted it to a fuel product. Farmers now get $6.00 a bushel for corn and they have never been as profitable.

Going "back to nature" and "reducing a carbon footprint" are important and we must worry about what will happen 50 or 100 or 1,000 years from now. But we in horticulture need to worry about the problems facing our population this year. If you don’t know how to sustain your business, your family, your community today and in the next few years, you won’t have to worry about global issues 100 years from now.

The green bandwagon may be a fad or a trend or it may follow the real estate crash. Will you increase prices to cover all the increased expenses to the point that your product will be overpriced and not saleable?

It always comes down to the owners of the businesses and the approach that they take. If they build on a solid foundation of being financially sound and have the knowledge and background to grow great plants so that their customers will be successful and satisfied with the plants’ performance, then their businesses will not only survive but prosper in what looks to be the tough times ahead.

Remember, "inch by inch, anything is a cinch!" I hope that the spring season has gone well for you and your business.

A new educational video that provides information on the horticultural industry’s essential role in bee and pollinator stewardship is one result of industry collaboration by the Horticultural Research Institute, AmericanHort, Society of American Florists and the American Floral Endowment. “Protecting Bees & Pollinators: What Horticulture Needs to Know,” narrates the current state of bee and pollinator health, provides information on factors that impact pollinators and the environment and underscores the beneficial role horticulture plays in providing healthy pollinator ecosystems.

Vegetable breeding companies will come together this August to host the Summer Vegetable Trials in California. Like the long-standing California Spring Trials that are held annually in California, attendees will have the opportunity to visit breeding companies' trial sites in seven locations throughout the state, from August 20-21, 2015. National Garden Bureau (NGB), the non-profit organization promoting gardening on behalf of the horticulture industry, is organizing and publicizing this event on behalf of its members.

DNA Green Group and Riknplant have finalized DNA Green Group's acquisition of Rijnplant, meaning that the breeding and propagation activities in pot and cut anthurium, bougainvillea and heliconia will transfer to DNA Green Group.

DNA Green Group and Riknplant have finalized DNA Green Group's acquisition of Rijnplant, meaning that the breeding and propagation activities in pot and cut anthurium, bougainvillea and heliconia will transfer to DNA Green Group.

Apply now for American Floral Endowment (AFE) scholarships or educational grants. Applications can be found online. For educational grants for 2015-2016, applications must be submitted no later than June 1. Scholarship applications are due May 1. AFE will award $40,000 in scholarships for 2015.

The University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) has a new directors for its Mid-Florida Research and Education Center (REC) on Apopka, Fla. The role has been filled by Joseph Albano, a research horticulturist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture with more than 25 years of experience.

Independent garden retailer Pike Nurseries has announced it will become an employee-owned company. Pike Nurseries management has combined with its sister corporation in California, Armstrong Garden Centers, to operate under an established Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

The mobile app GrowIt! Garden Socially can now be used by gardeners with Android-based smartphones. Now available on the Google Play Market,
GrowIt! helps users find plants to fit their lifestyle and connect them with other local gardeners.

Following a successful inaugural event in Tampa last fall, Greenhouse Grower has announced the dates of its second annual GreenhouseConnect: October 26-29, 2015. Representatives of an expected two dozen leading greenhouse operations from across the U.S. will join senior-level suppliers at Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego for several days of one-on-one strategic meetings, a growers-only roundtable, informational sessions and a variety of networking events.

The Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association recently announced that it is expanding its reach to include the greenhouse industry, meaning it has become The Maryland Nursery, Landscape and Greenhouse Association (MNLGA). The change comes as a result of the planned dissolution of the former Maryland Greenhouse Growers Association and the invitation for those members to join the existing and renamed association.

The annual meet for the International Plant Propagators' Society (IPPS) Western Region has been set for this September. It will take place September 23 to 26 in Modesto, Calif., and will include learning sessions, tours to local nurseries, a research poster display and poster presentations, various networking opportunities and an awards banquet to close the event.

The management of Myers Lawn and Garden Group, along with Wingate Partners V, L.P. have recently acquired the Myers Industries, Inc. Lawn and Garden business. The new company is named The HC Companies, and will continue as a North American leading provider of horticulture containers supplying the greenhouse, nursery and retail markets.

While meeting during the Flower and Vegetable Seed Conference in Tampa, Fla., hosted by the American Seed Trade Association, All-America Selections elected new officers for a two-year term. Read on to learn about the new officers, as well as all of the new judges that were added in 2014.

Greenhouse Grower magazine, the nation’s leader in profits, production and education for greenhouse growers, announces the launch of its completely redesigned website, GreenhouseGrower.com. The new design is the product of direct user feedback and GreenhouseGrower.com analytics, and includes responsive design for ease of mobile use.

Ronald Valentin has been appointed technical lead for Syngenta Bioline, effective January 2015. He will be responsible for technical support of Bioline biological control agents and will be instrumental in helping growers develop integrated pest management (IPM) solutions.

When Bailey Nurseries purchased its long-time breeding partner, Plant Introductions, Inc. (PII), in early January 2015, it freed the PII team to concentrate on what they do best: develop new plants. Bailey Nurseries will take on the business management side of the partnership, but otherwise the relationship it has enjoyed with PII for years will be largely unchanged.

Bailey Nurseries has acquired Plant Introductions, Inc. (PII), effective January 1, 2015. PII has developed numerous innovative new varieties that have been marketed worldwide, many introduced by Bailey Nurseries.